The Pixel 9 sequence is one month outdated now, and I’ve spent a while with a number of the fashions within the lineup. After a few weeks of analyzing our lab exams, trying out the competitors, and placing the Pixel 9 household towards the newly launched iPhone 16, a notion began to kind.

There appears to be one single characteristic that will’ve made the Pixel 9 sequence so significantly better that it will’ve been an actual menace to flagships such because the iPhone 16 or the Galaxy S24. I do know you guys do not just like the tease, however we have now to construct up the arguments one after the other and discover the lacking piece.

Might it’s the Pixel 9 sequence digital camera?

Let’s begin by investigating the digital camera, one of the crucial vital areas of recent smartphones, and one through which there are nonetheless some variations and innovation happening. The Pixel telephones have all the time punched manner above their pure {hardware} on the subject of digital camera efficiency, and the Pixel 9 sequence isn’t any exception.Google has been perfecting the picture processing algorithms for the reason that first Pixel, and many individuals take into account the Pixels as greatest on the subject of computational images, I will not argue about that assertion, however as an alternative let us take a look at our digital camera score and examine it with the competitors.

We spent fairly a while growing our digital camera testing process, and it focuses on many facets you most likely by no means thought even existed. I am not gonna boast about it, as there is not any such factor as an ideal take a look at, but it surely’s pretty much as good and as goal as we have been capable of make it.

Trying on the scores, the Pixel 9 Professional not solely holds its floor towards the iPhone 16 Professional and the Galaxy S24 Plus, but it surely’s capable of beat these in mixture photograph rating, most important digital camera rating, and zoom.

So, even when we’re fairly conservative, we will safely say that the Pixel 9 is “a minimum of” on par with the most recent Apple and Samsung flagships on the subject of digital camera efficiency. This is not the lacking hyperlink!

The show is the connection to the smartphone and its most important interface. For fairly a while, Samsung was the benchmark on this class, and unsurprisingly, many of the flagship show panels have been and nonetheless are made by Samsung.

This yr the Pixel 9 sequence managed to do one thing unthinkable: beat Samsung at its personal recreation on the subject of show brightness and shade copy. I am unsure how Google did it or what new panels the corporate ordered, however simply check out the comparability beneath.

For those who ask me, the battery life is an important characteristic of a smartphone. In spite of everything, if the telephone is lifeless, all of the bells and whistles will not ring and… nicely, whistle. No digital camera, no fancy AI, only a chilly, lifeless brick of silicon, aluminum, and glass.

You understand the drill by now; let’s examine the battery lifetime of our three opponents and see what’s what. Possibly the battery lifetime of the Pixel 9 Professional is severely missing?

Nicely, this does not appear to be the case. The Pixel 9 Professional is on par with the iPhone 16 Professional on the subject of internet looking, beats each the Galaxy and the iPhone at video streaming, and lags behind within the gaming take a look at.

Some might argue that fashionable smartphones are lots quick, with greater than sufficient uncooked energy to deal with just about something, however nonetheless the businesses boast quicker and quicker chips yearly. To be trustworthy, I did not discover any vital distinction in smoothness or responsiveness once I examined the Pixels, however there’s one other half to this equation. Longevity.

Within the present smartphone local weather, seven years of main OS updates is the brand new most, and I actually do not assume that the Tensor G4 might survive these seven updates. Particularly with the ever-growing software program calls for. That mentioned, I do not assume a Snapdragon or an A-series Apple chipset might do the seven-year stretch, not with out lagging and stuttering, however I am positive each of those will outlive the Tensor. Simply.

Our Telephone Ranking widget tells the entire story

Really, the rationale I began to research this matter lies in our new telephone widget. Now some insights from the kitchen. We’ve an enormous, and I imply HUGE, spreadsheet with all of the measurements from all of the completely different lab exams, alongside different stuff to calculate the ultimate score of a telephone.

Whereas I used to be punching within the Pixel 9 sequence outcomes, the factor that stood out like a sore thumb was the efficiency. The uncooked energy and on a regular basis efficiency. It was clear as day that the Tensor was the offender. I did a little bit experiment and simply changed the Tensor scores with these from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and the Pixel got here on prime of EVERY telephone we have examined as far as a closing score.

I do know the Tensor is rather more than only a powerhouse; there’s AI-specific silicon inside doing its magic, however on the finish of the day, most individuals take note of closing rankings, scores, and numbers. And if the Pixel 9 sequence was outfitted with Snapdragon chips, the lineup would’ve made some waves within the smartphone ocean. Massive waves.